Nearly 1 billion people don’t have access to clean water, and the consequences are fatal. Diarrhea is one of the leading killers of children under the age of five. Fortunately, the solutions needed to access clean water can be affordable and re ...

When the sun goes down, the day ends. No work after dark, no studying. That’s the reality for one quarter of the world’s population that lives without electricity. Inventive design and the falling cost of solar power is lighting up homes ...

Technology is essential to good health worldwide. Product designers are revealing its potential with devices such as paper-based rapid disease diagnostics, accurate male circumcision tools that can reduce the rate of HIV infection, and suites of tele ...

Informed construction saves lives, and it also just makes life more pleasant. Architects and engineers are mining the world’s traditional building techniques to find better ways to contend with earthquakes and floods and to adapt to problems li ...

870 million people worldwide are chronically undernourished. Irrigating crops is a simple solution that can double the amount of food a farm produces. But as much as 80 percent of farmland worldwide is not irrigated. Tested machines and new innovati ...

About one in three people worldwide don’t have access to improved sanitation, but managing waste could solve a lot of the world’s health problems. For all of its importance, the issue still gets little attention. We have the solutions. Good, ...

The boom in mobile phone ownership has been one of the unanticipated success stories of global development. And with all of that computing power in the hands of so many people, software engineers are at the leading edge of the work to improve lives. ...

Bridges, boats and wheels are connecting people in inventive ways. Bicycle ambulances save lives in the world’s hard-to-reach communities, clinics on buses take medical care to the village, and farmers build do-it-yourself tractors and drive tr ...

WAS THE ARTICLE USEFUL?

How to successfully distribute water filters

Distribution can be the highest hurdle in technology development in areas where resources are scarce. Convincing people to buy and use an unfamiliar device is a hard sell anywhere, but the problem is compounded when the customers earn less than $2 per day and the salespeople are foreigners.

Aqua Clara International has found a way to side-step some distribution issues and create jobs in the process. The non-profit organization promotes the use of water filters in developing regions and leaves sales to local entrepreneurs. ACI trains and finances a local manufacture, sales and education force. It’s a simple distribution plan for relatively simple filtration and storage technologies. This is how they do it.

ACI at a glance

ACI develops and promotes biosand filters and hollow-fiber membrane filters, the latter of which can treat water laced with contaminants such as arsenic and fluoride. Its “flagship” biosand filters for homes treat about 40 liters per day, last about 10 years and cost roughly $12 to $15, depending on the expenses in the regions where they sell.

The Michigan-based organization has operations in Kenya and Nicaragua, where it has distributed nearly 5000 filters. Through affiliates, ACI’s filters are available in dozens of other countries.

Their efforts can save lives. The World Health Organization estimates that 1 billion people lack access to safe water, and about 2 million people die each year from diarrhea attributed in large part to the water they drink. People who have a biosand filter in their homes, however, are about half as likely to contract diarrhea, according to a randomzed, controlled trial in the Dominican Republic.

The technology

ACI has made small tweaks to the traditional biosand filter to try to reduce its cost and boost its efficacy. A biosand filter is basically a tub of sand and gravel with an outlet tube placed in the bottom. The user pours water into the top of the container, it passes through a perforated diffusion plate and into a column of sand where it slowly trickles down, leaving contaminants behind. The device is called “biosand” because a film of living microbes forms in the upper three to four inches of sand and acts as a first layer of filtration.

The filters reduce up to 96.5 percent of bacteria, 70 to 99 percent of viruses, and nearly 100 percent of protozoa and helminths, according to laboratory tests by the Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology. That organization publishes a detailed construction guide and usage manual available for free online.

ACI’s version encases the device in a large, low-cost plastic bucket and adds a disinfectant layer of granulated brass. The brass adds only a slight bump in performance, but it also plays a role in quality control, says Scott Rumpsa, director of ACI’s program in Kenya.

Decentralized distribution

Rumpsa and his team help train the people who build, sell, install and teach customers about the use and maintenance of the filters. These decentralized groups of entrepreneurs work in their own communities so ACI can have local representation.

“The goal is to have a local expert who remains in the area, motivated by income, even after we leave,” Rumpsa says. “As we get things started, we organize all supplies for the biosand filters and only require repayment of material costs after each filter is sold.”

ACI negotiates materials costs from local suppliers, buying in bulk at a discounted rate. The local distributors earn about $3 each from the sale of the filters. As part of the service that ACI provides, community health workers visit the filter buyers’ homes up to three times throughout two years after purchase to provide assistance.

The brass disinfectant additive provides a lever by which ACI can control the manufacturers.

“We supply this small outside material, and therefore can cut off a filter builder if they don’t maintain high construction and oversight standards,” Rumpsa told E4C.

Changes and challenges

ACI continues to research improvements to its filters. Future generations may include more of the brass alloy and do away with the biolayer altogether.

On the distribution front, the organization uses its local networks to sell safe water storage containers and simple handwashing stations. They also hold hygiene clubs for school children, and the schools double as sites for community demonstrations that can draw crowds, Rumpsa says.

In a decentralized scheme, quality can vary, so Rumpsa’s team has started smoothing over inconsistencies by centralizing some of the materials preparation. They now sieve the sand and gravel before delivering it to the filter builders, for example. The visiting health workers are also a part of the new quality-control effort.

ACI has hit on a plan that appears to work. The program in Kenya is in its third year, and this year it’s projected to double in size. Though the effort is relatively new, ACI appears to adjust nimbly to its experience. And, at this point, its distribution model may be a valuable case study in success. For more information, please see ACI’s website, aquaclara.org.[Thumbnail image by John “K” / Flickr]

Contributor:

Leave a Reply

I am from Jajpur,state-Odisha,Pin- 755001(india).people of the area about 60% are under poverty line.because want of pure drinking water many people specially children of the underpriviledged class suffer from serious diseases mostly of uncurable type.today i saw from “z”tv 2 delhi school girls distributing 60 nos water p filters in the slum areas of delhi.that induced me to try & take steps for such type of work in our locality.i would therefore request to choose cheap but safe variety w/f for the purpose.

Safe drinking water saves lives, and fortunately, technologies to deliver it to rural communities abound. It can be tough to navigate the mounds of information, however, so we’ve compiled a list of important resources here. Many of these suggestions come from USAID’s WASHPlus blog, and others come from our Solutions Library and news blog. For more devices and case studies, please see the Water section of our Solutions Library. These are...

The values of a Bolivian school for the indigenous in the 1930s reflect the potential of global development engineering today. Florencio walks into my...

by engineers. for everyone.

E4C Membership is a curated experience! When you become
a member, we will tailor a unique user profile for you based on
the way you engage with our content over time. Your actions and
preferences will allow us to serve you content that is most
relevant to you. In addition, becoming an E4C member grants you
access to exclusive engagement opportunities and the E4C
newsletter.

Join E4C and become a part of a global community that
believes engineering can change the world!

Did you know you can customize your E4C experience? Find more of your favorite articles, webinars, events and courses when you sign up for a FREE membership. Once a member, the more content you engage with, the more relevant we can make it for you!

As a member you have access to exclusive, curated content that changes on your homepage based on what you read the most.

Membership gives you access to over a million practitioners working in global development, many of whom are looking for talent like you!

Post or peruse Job, Training & Volunteer Opportunities

Discuss & share projects in our Community Space

Members are in the know! You’ll be invited to our webinars and
special events and receive access to our monthly newsletter.